Hey everyone!! Its Olivia and Caroline here!!
Today was our first full fantastic day here in Kalambaka, Greece! Today we visited a beautiful monastery, went to an icon workshop, and then had a fantastic debrief and art session with Johnny!! I (Caroline) absolutely loved our time at the monastery because of how rich the religious history is and how the creators thought out every detail of every inch of the churches! I (Olivia) really loved our visit to the icon workshop because of how unique the artwork was and how passionate the family was about their work.
First on the agenda was the Great Meteora Monastery. The monastery has a strict dress code; women must wear long skirts or dresses that cover their shoulders, and men must wear long pants. We had a slight hike up and down flights of stairs to get there, but the view was worth every step! Once you entered the monastery, we were asked not to take any pictures to preserve the art that lines every space of the churches and the items in the museum. We walked over to the church and learned about the Greek Orthodox ritual performed before they enter the church. Every church across all monasteries follows strict rules to make them all as similar as possible art-wise. The art was the same Byzantine style we've seen in previous museums in Athens. I (Caroline) thought it was very cool to recognize that art style, remember the time period in which it originated, and have the previous days’ puzzle pieces fit together seamlessly! The art followed the rules so that everyone had the same stories because some couldn’t read, and they learned the stories of the Bible through the paintings. The church is divided into two rooms. The first is bigger and decorated with wall paintings of how they were treated and even tortured for their faith, where they gather and have special celebrations. These paintings were vibrant in reds, blues, golds, and greens, contrasting the deep meanings behind them all. The main church (2nd room) was very different because there were many larger pictures, gold chandeliers, and stained glass windows. A gorgeous cross in the middle of the main church was painted blue with Jesus on the cross and lines in gold accents. The highest part was the dome in the middle of the room with a painting of Jesus blessing us, and the four corners of the dome had the writers of the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
While in the main church, our tour guide, Irini, explained that the two church rooms together make a cross! This detail blew me (Caroline) away because of how thoughtful and purposeful that detail was in making the churches in the monasteries! Then we learned where our saying “knock on wood!” came from! They communicate by knocking on a long, thin log of wood to pass on information throughout the monastery for everyone else to hear! This fun fact really made my (Caroline) mind blown because I say this phrase all the time and never even thought about where it came from! Then we got some free time to walk around and see the museums we didn't see earlier that hold all of the religious clothing worn, the gospels, the writings of different priests, shrines, and so much more! As someone who is always excited to grow in my faith, I found the monastery a very impactful experience! The views from the hike back to the bus was breathtaking and I loved every second spent there!
We even found a cat and I (Caroline) named it Sweet Pea cause it never left us and purred so much when it got all of our love and attention!
Our last adventure of the day was a special tour of an icon workshop! The owner's son started our tour by showing us the various types of woods used to create the frames for the icons. The woods are taken from various kinds of local trees. After creating the wooden frame, 100% cotton is stretched out to create the canvas. Stucco is then layered onto the canvas to make the canvas thicker and smoother. The canvas is then put into the oven for 2 hours to make it more solid. Next, he took us to the main room, where his family would paint the Icons and where the work could be purchased. He explained to us that a drawing with a pencil is created first. After the drawing is created, gold is stuck to the background of the icon before it is painted. Painting the icons requires a very steady hand with the help of using a stabilizer and fine brush strokes. The paint is mixed with egg yolk and white vinegar to make it thinner for painting. The pieces are created by painting with darker colors and then moving to lighter colors. The face and eyes of the Icons are painted last and must follow a similar design to previous pieces. During this time, we had the opportunity to watch the father/owner of the shop work on a piece. Additionally, we got the chance to paint an icon ourselves! I (Olivia) found this to be very difficult as it requires great focus and skill. Despite the stabilizer the iconographers use to keep their hands steady, I still found my hand to be very shaky. It made watching the owner work all the more impressive because of how fast yet delicately he was able to paint. The owner and father has been an orthodox priest for 45 years and has been painting since 1975. They even created an Icon of the holy family in 2001 for the Vatican! His work began from learning how to paint from the monks. The workshop has four painters (all of which are family), the owner, his wife, his son, and his daughter in-law. During our visit, our group asked him how someone can learn to be an iconographer. The son explained to us that it takes both natural talent and learned skill to become an iconographer. It was very inspiring for us to see the hard work and dedication this family has put forth to their art. Additionally, I (Olivia) found it very intriguing that they were able to make all of the beautiful art from the inspiration of their faith. Their work makes me think about the ways I could integrate my passions and beliefs into my future work!
We ended the day with a reflection led by Johnny! Johnny had us do an art activity where we had 30 seconds to draw what a certain emotion would look like using just strokes (no shapes, faces, or words). It was very cool to see and hear how the strokes and force on the page changed depending on what square we were in! Then he had us do a poem, well, make that 18 poems! We all started with how we have felt about the past week, then passed ours to the left and added a phrase or another single word, some were specifically colors or greek gods/philosophers, and we kept going until we ended back up with our journal. I (Caroline) thought it was so cool how all 18 of our poems turned out so to be so unique and how we all had contributed to one another's to make such moving and random poems! I (Olivia) also really liked how many of our poems connected to our journeys and were very thought-provoking.
Thanks so much for reading! Olivia and Caroline signing off! :)
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